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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Winter Meetings likely to be boring as hell

Brian McTaggart talked to Ed Wade about the Winter Meetings, which begin next Monday.

Ed Wade:I don't see us being really active at the Winter Meetings unless we're engaged in specific trade discussions at that point, but I envision it being quiet for us. As we've indicated, we've got some payroll limitations that we're working through, and that being the case, it will be a challenge being out there and be overly aggressive in the free-agent market. That doesn't mean we're not going to work to get things done, but I look at it in a realistic context. I don't envision us being as active as we were last year."

But here's an interesting note from McTaggart:As is the case with the outfield spot, Houston may choose to find a starting pitcher internally. Wade said top prospect Jordan Lyles will likely be invited to spring camp to compete for a spot, and the team has kicked around the idea of putting young relievers Fernando Abad or Henry Villar in the rotation.

As of now, your rotation is: Myers, Happ, Wandy, Norris, and...someone else. Lyles just turned 20 in October. The last time the Astros had a 20-year old appear in more than a handful of games in September was in 1977, when Terry Puhl got in 60 games (and had a .786 OPS, by the by).

Villar started making that transition in Corpus earlier this season. What do you think about transitioning either him or Abad to the rotation?

1 comment:

Abad is doing pretty well in Winter ball (Dom). He has a 2.42 ERA in 7 appearances (4 starts). As a starter down there, he has 20 K's in 14 1/3 IP. His starter/reliever splits are very different looking ( http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=l131&t=p_pbp&pid=472551 )

However, Abad only has 22 starts in 142 minor league appearances and half of those came in the Dominican Summer league back in 05. Also, he is a lefty which is needed right now in the pen.

Villar has much more experience as a starter but I am not sure he is really ready for a full season in the bigs.

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